Back to the headlights-off question. Any inmates from S. America know if it's still done?

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I'm just spit-balling here but older cars had generators instead of todays modern alternators, generators will not make sufficient amps at low rpm, idle, to power the lights so the battery is getting drained at idle. Also, generators need a little voltage to "excite" them into working, produce amperage. So, if the battery gets too dead the generator won't come back on line. This would be worse on older, less maintained vehicles.

And, to get back on track.....

While putting my helmet on outside of an Autozone the other day...

Mullet head: (Looks up at storm clouds) Looks like it going to rain.

ME: (Looking up at storm clouds) Yup.

MH: I hope you not going too far.

ME: Baltimore, home, about 130 miles. (No, I did not ride 130 miles to get to the Autozone, its conveniently near my parents house)

MH: Whatcha gonna do when it rains?

ME: Get wet. It happens.

MH: I never ride in the rain, heck, my Harley has never had a drop of rain onnit.

Some fat old guy wearing a novelty helmet, homemade v-neck sleeveless shirt, 90's swimming trunks, and flip flops said to me, "Do you have any idea how fucking stupid you look with all that shit on?"

Watched a guy on a Harley do a 25ft diameter u-turn in a gas station parking lot then waddle the bike the last 15ft to the pumps. He walked over to my DRZ and inquired when I was going to get a real man's bike in a nasty tone. I asked him when he was planning on learning to ride his.

Never heard the "to save gas" explanation but I have heard of people in here in the States who think that using the headlights unnecessarily is bad and will kill the battery...like there is no charging system.

Where do they get these people?

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On a permanent magnet generator with an old-style shunt regulator (e.g. on a dirt bike or old UJM), does it even cause any extra engine load to run electrical accessories? I'm not an EE, but I thought the generator always ran full-bore and got rid of extra electricity as heat through the regulator vs. a car alternator where the magnetic field is actually stronger when the load is heavier.

On a permanent magnet generator with an old-style shunt regulator (e.g. on a dirt bike or old UJM), does it even cause any extra engine load to run electrical accessories? I'm not an EE, but I thought the generator always ran full-bore and got rid of extra electricity as heat through the regulator vs. a car alternator where the magnetic field is actually stronger when the load is heavier.

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To you and the other inmate who mentioned generators...I was talking about vehicles from the eighties and nineties with alternators, not generators...The battery isn't going to be drained sitting at a stop light...hence the original remark.

On a permanent magnet generator with an old-style shunt regulator (e.g. on a dirt bike or old UJM), does it even cause any extra engine load to run electrical accessories? I'm not an EE, but I thought the generator always ran full-bore and got rid of extra electricity as heat through the regulator vs. a car alternator where the magnetic field is actually stronger when the load is heavier.

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These permanent magnet alternators are still very common and are not correctly termed generators because they produce an AC output (Alternator) which is then rectified and shunt regulated.

To you and the other inmate who mentioned generators...I was talking about vehicles from the eighties and nineties with alternators, not generators...

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The only motorcycle I've ever owned in over 30 years of riding which doesn't have a permanent magnet alternator with a shunt regulator is a 1984 air cooled BMW boxer with an automotive style alternator with a field winding controlled by the voltage regulator. My near new outboard motor also has a 3 Amp permanent magnet alternator.

The battery isn't going to be drained sitting at a stop light...hence the original remark.

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If the lights are on, the lights are using energy.

That energy may be a trivial fraction of the engines output, or it may be power which the engine provides regardless of how it is used or not used (as is the case with the permanent magnet alternator or with a car heater which uses waste heat), but it has to come from somewhere.

Some fat old guy wearing a novelty helmet, homemade v-neck sleeveless shirt, 90's swimming trunks, and flip flops said to me, "Do you have any idea how fucking stupid you look with all that shit on?"

Watched a guy on a Harley do a 25ft diameter u-turn in a gas station parking lot then waddle the bike the last 15ft to the pumps. He walked over to my DRZ and inquired when I was going to get a real man's bike in a nasty tone. I asked him when he was planning on learning to ride his.